Category: Physics

Acoustics is the branch of physics that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics technology may be called an acoustical engineer. The application of acoustics is present in almost all aspects of modern society with the most obvious being the audio and noise control industries.

Hearing is one of the most crucial means of survival in the animal world, and speech is one of the most distinctive characteristics of human development and culture. Accordingly, the science of acoustics spreads across many facets of human society—music, medicine, architecture, industrial production, warfare and more. Likewise, animal species such as songbirds and frogs use sound and hearing as a key element of mating rituals or marking territories. Art, craft, science and technology have provoked one another to advance the whole, as in many other fields of knowledge. Robert Bruce Lindsay‘s ‘Wheel of Acoustics’ is a well accepted overview of the various fields in acoustics.[1]

The word “acoustic” is derived from the Greek word ἀκουστικός (akoustikos), meaning “of or for hearing, ready to hear”[2] and that from ἀκουστός (akoustos), “heard, audible”,[3] which in turn derives from the verb ἀκούω (akouo), “I hear”.[4]

The Latin synonym is “sonic”, after which the term sonics used to be a synonym for acoustics[5] and later a branch of acoustics.[6]Frequencies above and below the audible range are called “ultrasonic” and “infrasonic“, respectively. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustics

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An introduction to cold atom physics. A glympse into NASA´s Coolest Experiment and The Future of the Field.

This video introduces the concepts involved in cooling down atoms to such low temperatures that their quantum mechanical properties can be observed and manipulated.

Nasa and Cold Atoms

NASA’s Cold Atom Lab will produce clouds of ultra-cold atoms aboard the International Space Station to perform quantum physics experiments in microgravity. Atoms are chilled to about one 10 billionth of a degree above Absolute Zero, or about 10 billion times colder than the average temperature of deep space. At those temperatures, atoms behave in strange ways, allowing scientists to investigate the fundamental nature of matter. For more info about CAL, visit https://coldatomlab.jpl.nasa.gov/ The clouds of ultra-cold atoms CAL produces are called Bose-Einstein Condensates (BECs), a bizarre state of matter in which atoms exhibit quantum behavior at macroscopic a scale you can see. BECs make it possible for researchers to probe the fundamental nature of matter. Hundreds of BEC experiments exist on Earth, but on the International Space Station, free from the pull of gravity, scientists will be able to observe BECs for much longer than what is possible on Earth, and reach even colder temperatures than what is typically achieved on the ground. The Cold Atom Lab will move scientists another step closer to solving some of the biggest mysteries in the universe, such as understanding the nature of dark matter and dark energy and solving the disagreement between quantum mechanics and the theory of gravity. Research done on CAL can also have practical applications, such as making improvements to atomic clock technologies, which are used in spacecraft navigation, as well as the GPS satellites that provide navigation information to devices like smartphones. CAL research could also lead to improvements to quantum sensors used for remote sensing on spacecraft. These sensors can be used for a variety of applications, including monitoring Earth’s changing climate and remotely studying the internal makeup of planets and asteroids.

The Future

Dr. Erickson is a research physicist in the Cold Atom Precision Timing and Navigation group in the Space Vehicles Directorate of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. He believes that the future of many commonplace devices lies with the technology being developed to cool and trap atoms. Cold atom technology is at the cusp of transitioning from the laboratory to industry. As more people develop a basic understanding of atomic physics, the applications of it may be found to expand across many diverse ﬁelds. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

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Physics doesn’t just happen in a fancy lab — it happens when you push a piece of buttered toast off the table or drop a couple of raisins in a fizzy drink or watch a coffee spill dry. Become a more interesting dinner guest as physicist Helen Czerski presents various concepts in physics you can become familiar with using everyday things found in your kitchen.

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more.

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Plastics are one of humanities most critical inventions, and one of its most dangerous and fierce threats to public and health and wildlife. Critical for transportation, medicine, and food safety its overuse has beared its very negative aspect. One that is specially harsh on Oceans, that now continuously move tons of waste plastics and with it millions of animals die because these things are outside their natural habitat and have not evolved to suvive them.

Tortuga muerta por platistico

Pajaros muertos por platistico

Pajaro, plasticos, mar

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Plastics are classified according to its layers of plastic and special properties according to market demand.

Polyethylene Terephthalate: Also called PET, it is the common plastic used for household activities. It is the common plastic to be recycled in most countries.

High-Density Polyethylene ( HDPE) is a plastic known to not transmit any chemicals in the food it contains. It is recommended not to use any container of this type of plastic that originally did not contain food to store food.

Polyvinyl Chloride: Also named PVC is the plastic used for tubes and pipes. It can be very harmful if ingested so it is preferable to avoid contact with food.

Low-Density Polyethylene: Is a plastic sometimes recycled. Some of its characteristics are the durability and flexibility. Plastic grocery bags are made from this type of plastic.

Polypropylene: PP is a strong and durable plastic resistant to high temperatures. Plastic bottle caps, lunch boxes and yogurt pots are made from this type of plastic.

Polystyrene: A common but difficult to recycle plastics. Plastic cups and food boxes are made from this type of plastic.

Code 7: Polycarbonate and polylactide are included in this category because of the difficulty in recycling them. Baby bottles, CD´s and medical containers are made of this Code 7 plastics.

Here is a video of plastics, plastic waste, water and plastic.

The great pacific garbage patch

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Magnus effect is a phenomenon that occurs with spinning objects, this pulls air faster which creates a difference in pressure that moves it into a place of lower pressure. The understanding of this effect has helped understand the movement and conditions of other elements, for example, the ones that are sent to space.

“TheMagnus effect is an observable phenomenon that is commonly associated with a spinning object that drags air faster around one side, creating a difference in pressure that moves it in the direction of the lower-pressure side. The Magnus effect often occurs when a spinning sphere (or cylinder) curves away from its principal flight path.

This phenomenon is important in the study of the physics of many ball sports. It is also an important factor in the study of the effects of spinning on guided missiles—and has some engineering uses, for instance in the design of rotor ships and Flettner airplanes.

In terms of ball games, topspin is defined as spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of travel, where the top surface of the ball is moving forward with the spin. Under the Magnus effect, topspin produces a downward swerve of a moving ball, greater than would be produced by gravity alone, and backspin has the opposite effect. Likewise, side-spin causes swerve to either side as seen during some baseball pitches, e.g. slider. The overall behavior is similar to that around an aerofoil (see lift force), but with a circulation generated by mechanical rotation rather than airfoil action.

The Magnus effect is named after Heinrich Gustav Magnus, the German physicist who investigated it. The force on a rotating cylinder is known as Kutta–Joukowski lift, after Martin Wilhelm Kutta and Nikolai Zhukovsky (or Joukowski), who first analyzed the effect.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_effect

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Geometric optics describe how light moves in form of rays. When an object is dropped in the water two-dimensional waves are created on the surface. Light is emitted in all directions of the three-dimensional world. The waves produced are spherical and a ray diagram is formed, the same way light travels through mirrors and lenses.

“Geometrical optics, or ray optics, describes light propagation in terms of rays. The ray in geometric optics is an abstraction useful for approximating the paths along which light propagates under certain circumstances.

The simplifying assumptions of geometrical optics include that light rays:

propagate in straight-line paths as they travel in a homogeneous medium

bend, and in particular circumstances may split in two, at the interface between two dissimilar media

follow curved paths in a medium in which the refractive index changes

may be absorbed or reflected.

Geometrical optics does not account for certain optical effects such as diffraction and interference. This simplification is useful in practice; it is an excellent approximation when the wavelength is small compared to the size of structures with which the light interacts. The techniques are particularly useful in describing geometrical aspects of imaging, including optical aberrations.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometrical_optics

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Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction in his honor the law was created. The process consists of placing a conductor in a changing magnetic field which causes the production of a voltage. This process induces the electrical current.

“Electromagnetic or magnetic induction is the production of an electromotive force (i.e., voltage) across an electrical conductor due to its dynamic interaction with a magnetic field.

Michael Faraday is generally credited with the discovery of induction in 1831, and James Clerk Maxwell mathematically described it as Faraday’s law of induction. Lenz’s law describes the direction of the induced field. Faraday’s law was later generalized to become the Maxwell-Faraday equation, one of the four Maxwell’s equations in James Clerk Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetism.

Electromagnetic induction has found many applications in technology, including electrical components such as inductors and transformers, and devices such as electric motors and generators. Electromagnetic induction was first discovered by Michael Faraday, who made his discovery public in 1831. It was discovered independently by Joseph Henry in 1832.

In Faraday’s first experimental demonstration (August 29, 1831), he wrapped two wires around opposite sides of an iron ring or “torus” (an arrangement similar to a modern toroidal transformer). Based on his understanding of electromagnets, he expected that, when current started to flow in one wire, a sort of wave would travel through the ring and cause some electrical effect on the opposite side. He plugged one wire into a galvanometer and watched it as he connected the other wire to a battery. He saw a transient current, which he called a “wave of electricity” when he connected the wire to the battery and another when he disconnected it. This induction was due to the change in magnetic flux that occurred when the battery was connected and disconnected. Within two months, Faraday found several other manifestations of electromagnetic induction. For example, he saw transient currents when he quickly slid a bar magnet in and out of a coil of wires, and he generated a steady (DC) current by rotating a copper disk near the bar magnet with a sliding electrical lead” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_induction

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Quantum mechanics is one of the most important physics branches in charge of matter and light in the subatomic scale. It attempts to describe the components of electrons, protons, and other subatomic particles.

“Quantum mechanics (QM; also known as quantum physics or quantum theory), including quantum field theory, is a branch of physics which is the fundamental theory of nature at the small scales and energy levels of atoms and subatomic particles. Classical physics (the physics existing before quantum mechanics) derives from quantum mechanics as an approximation valid only at large (macroscopic) scales. Quantum mechanics differs from classical physics in that: energy, momentum and other quantities are often restricted to discrete values (quantization), objects have characteristics of both particles and waves (i.e. wave-particle duality), and there are limits to the precision with which quantities can be known (uncertainty principle).

Quantum mechanics gradually arose from Max Planck’s solution in 1900 to the black-body radiation problem and Albert Einstein’s 1905 paper which offered a quantum-based theory to explain the photoelectric effect. The Early quantum theory was profoundly re-conceived in the mid-1920s by Erwin Schrodinger, Werner Heisenberg, Max Born and others. The modern theory is formulated in various specially developed mathematical formalisms. In one of them, a mathematical function, the wave function, provides information about the probability amplitude of position, momentum, and other physical properties of a particle.

Important applications of the quantum theory include quantum chemistry, superconducting magnets, light-emitting diodes, and the laser, the transistor, and semiconductors such as the microprocessor, medical and research imaging such as magnetic resonance imaging and electron microscopy. Explanations for many biological and physical phenomena are rooted in the nature of the chemical bond, most notably the macro-molecule DNA.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics

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Nuclear physics is the study of neutrons, protons and the interactions these elements have in the center of the atom. Nuclear reactions have a high impact causing radioactive decay and even merging of nuclei.

“The history of nuclear physics as a discipline distinct from atomic physics starts with the discovery of radioactivity by Henri Becquerel in 1896 while investigating phosphorescence in uranium salts. The discovery of the electron by J. J. Thomson a year later was an indication that the atom had internal structure. At the beginning of the 20th century, the accepted model of the atom was J. J. Thomson’s “plum pudding” model in which the atom was a positively charged ball with smaller negatively charged electrons embedded inside it.

In the years that followed, radioactivity was extensively investigated, notably by Marie and Pierre Curie as well as by Ernest Rutherford and his collaborators. By the turn of the century, physicists had also discovered three types of radiation emanating from atoms, which they named alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. Experiments by Otto Hahn in 1911 and by James Chadwick in 1914 discovered that the beta decay spectrum was continuous rather than discrete. That is, electrons were ejected from the atom with a continuous range of energies, rather than the discrete amounts of energy that were observed in gamma and alpha decays. This was a problem for nuclear physics at the time, because it seemed to indicate that energy was not conserved in these decays.

Discoveries in nuclear physics have led to applications in many fields. This includes nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging, industrial and agricultural isotopes, ion implantation in materials engineering, and radiocarbon dating in geology and archaeology. Such applications are studied in the field of nuclear engineering..” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_physics

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Ampere´s Law consists of the “The magnetic field in space around an electric current is proportional to the electric current which serves as its source, just as the electric field in space is proportional to the charge which serves as its source. Ampere’s Law states that for any closed loop path, the sum of the length elements times the magnetic field in the direction of the length element is equal to the permeability times the electric current enclosed in the loop.” https://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/amplaw.html

“Hans Christian Oersted had just discovered the connection between electricity and magnetism. Meanwhile, a French physicist named André-Marie Ampère was experimenting with some wires, trying to learn more about the connection between current and the magnetic fields they create. Ampère would discover one of the most fundamental laws of electromagnetism: what we now call Ampère’s Law.

“In classical electromagnetism, Ampère’s circuital law (not to be confused with Ampère’s force law that André-Marie Ampèrediscovered in 1823) relates the integrated magnetic field around a closed loop to the electric current passing through the loop. James Clerk Maxwell (not Ampère) derived it using hydrodynamics in his 1861 paper “On Physical Lines of Force” and it is now one of the Maxwell equations, which form the basis of classical electromagnetism.

The original form of Maxwell’s circuital law, which he derived in his 1855 paper “On Faraday’s Lines of Force” based on an analogy to hydrodynamics, relates magnetic fields to electric currents that produce them. It determines the magnetic field associated with a given current or the current associated with a given magnetic field.

The original circuital law is only a correct law of physics in a magnetostatic situation, where the system is static except possibly for continuous steady currents within closed loops. For systems with electric fields that change over time, the original law (as given in this section) must be modified to include a term known as Maxwell’s correction ” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amp%C3%A8re%27s_circuital_law

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You’re probably familiar with the basics of magnets already: They have a north pole and a south pole. Two of the same pole will repel each other, while opposites attract. Only certain materials, especially those that contain iron, can be magnets. And there’s a magnetic field around Earth, which is why you can use a compass to figure out which way is north.

“Magnetism is a class of physical phenomena that are mediated by magnetic fields. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, which acts on other currents and magnetic moments.

The most familiar effects occur in ferromagnetic materials, which are strongly attracted by magnetic fields and can be magnetized to become permanent magnets, producing magnetic fields themselves. Only a few substances are ferromagnetic; the most common ones are iron, nickel and cobalt and their alloys. The prefix Ferro- refers to iron, because permanent magnetism was first observed in lodestone, a form of a natural iron ore called magnetite, Fe3O4.

Although ferromagnetism is responsible for most of the effects of magnetism encountered in everyday life, all other materials are influenced to some extent by a magnetic field, by several other types of magnetism. Paramagnetic substances such as aluminum and oxygen are weakly attracted to an applied magnetic field; diamagnetic substances such as copper and carbon are weakly repelled; while antiferromagnetic materials such as chromium and spin glasses have a more complex relationship with a magnetic field. The force of a magnet on paramagnetic, diamagnetic, antiferromagnetic materials is usually too weak to be felt and can be detected only by laboratory instruments, so in everyday life, these substances are often described as non-magnetic.

The magnetic state (or magnetic phase) of a material depends on temperature and other variables such as pressure and the applied magnetic field. A material may exhibit more than one form of magnetism as these variables change.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetism

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There’s a concept that’s crucial to chemistry and physics. It helps explain why physical processes go one way and not the other: why ice melts, why cream spreads in coffee, why air leaks out of a punctured tire. It’s entropy, and it’s notoriously difficult to wrap our heads around. Jeff Phillips gives a crash course on entropy.

“In statistical mechanics, entropy (usual symbol S) is related to the number of microscopic configurations Ω that a thermodynamic system can have when in a state as specified by some macroscopic variables. Specifically, assuming for simplicity that each of the microscopic configurations is equally probable, the entropy of the system is the natural logarithm of that number of configurations, multiplied by the Boltzmann constant KB. Formally,

This is consistent with 19th-century formulas for entropy in terms of heat and temperature, as discussed below. Boltzmann’s constant, and therefore entropy, have dimensions of energy divided by temperature.

For example, gas in a container with known volume, pressure, and energy could have an enormous number of possible configurations of the collection of individual gas molecules. At equilibrium, each instantaneous configuration of the gas may be regarded as random. Entropy may be understood as a measure of disorder within a macroscopic system. The second law of thermodynamics states that an isolated system’s entropy never decreases. Such systems spontaneously evolve towards thermodynamic equilibrium, the state with maximum entropy. Non-isolated systems may lose entropy, provided their environment’s entropy increases by at least that amount. Since entropy is a function of the state of the system, a change in entropy of a system is determined by its initial and final states. This applies whether the process is reversible or irreversible. However, irreversible processes increase the combined entropy of the system and its environment.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy

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We are so used to some things that we stopped wondering about them. Like light. What is light? Some kind of wavy thing, right? Kind of.

“Light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which ranges from radio waves to gamma rays. Electromagnetic radiation waves, as their names suggest are fluctuations of electric and magnetic fields, which can transport energy from one location to another. Visible light is not inherently different from the other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum with the exception that the human eye can detect visible waves. Electromagnetic radiation can also be described in terms of a stream of photons which are massless particles each traveling with wavelike properties at the speed of light. A photon is the smallest quantity (quantum) of energy which can be transported and it was the realization that light traveled in discrete quanta that were the origins of Quantum Theory.

It is no accident that humans can ‘see’ light. The detection of light is a very powerful tool for probing the universe around us. As light interacts with matter it can be become altered and by studying light that has originated or interacted with matter, many of the properties of that matter can be determined. It is through the study of light that for example we can understand the composition of the stars light years away or watch the processes that occur in the living cell as they happen.” https://www.andor.com/learning-academy/what-is-light-an-overview-of-the-properties-of-light

“The main source of light on Earth is the Sun. Sunlight provides the energy that green plants use to create sugars mostly in the form of starches, which release energy into the living things that digest them. This process of photosynthesis provides virtually all the energy used by living things. Historically, another important source of light for humans has been fire, from ancient campfires to modern kerosene lamps. With the development of electric lights and power systems, electric lighting has effectively replaced firelight. Some species of animals generate their own light, a process called bioluminescence. For example, fireflies use light to locate mates, and vampire squids use it to hide from prey.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light

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Planet Earth is full of life in every place we search for it. As many of you may not know Earth has a heartbeat, yes a heartbeat ladies and gentleman created by the electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere. This heartbeat is known as Schumann Resonance.

Earth has a heartbeat The planet Earth pulses with a special kind of resonant wave. The beat is a quasi-standing electromagnetic wave that beats at around 8 cycles per second. When lightning strikes the earth around 4 million times a day, it creates electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere. These waves are caught between the ground and the upper atmosphere, sixty miles up. Most of them just dissipate but others with the right wavelength and frequency keep going and get bigger and bigger. They are standing waves that pulse, creating the amazing illusion of a heartbeat, known as the Schumann Resonance. Scientist thought it was always confined to the planet Earth, trapped under the ionosphere but in 2011 NASA scientists detected the waves 500 miles up in space. There is also an amazing Superdeep Hole in Germany drilled by the German Continental Deep Drilling Program, one of the most amazing geoscientific projects ever. The project’s goal was to grant scientists the opportunity to study the planet earth’s crust, the effects of stress on layers of rock and observe any abnormalities along the way. A Dutch artist wanted to know what the planet sounded like, so arranged to have a geophone lowered into the hole to record ultrasonic waves. The sound eerily resembles a heartbeat.

Largest living thing Forget blue whales and giant redwood trees. The largest living thing on planet Earth is a humungous, amazing fungus. Scientists had never really paid much attention until recently when they realized how large they could get. Known as honey fungus, the large clumps of yellowish brownish mushrooms that appear above the ground are the fruits, so to speak, of much larger organisms. Mycelia are amazing underground networks of tubular filaments that spread out and if they come into contact with another genetically identical mycelia, they can fuse together to form one individual. The honey fungus tunnels underground causing massive tree die-offs and destroying gardens. It also tastes amazing in spaghetti sauce! The team that investigated a wide spread tree die off in Oregon discovered one organism that covered an area of 3.7 sq. miles and was somewhere between 1,900 and 8,650 years old! Not really specific but even 1900 years old is impressive!

Humans are not the only ones responsible for wide-scale extinctions The Great Oxygenation Event, was the appearance of dioxygen (02)in Earth’s atmosphere. The actual causes are still under debate but it has something to do with oceanic cyanobacteria which became the first microbes to produce oxygen by photosynthesis about 2.3 billion years ago, about 200 million years before the GOE. This extra oxygen they started creating (after a confusing chemical process that we don’t have time to get into) started building up in the atmosphere which set the original atmosphere off balance. Earth’s skies used to be orange full of hydrocarbon particles and iron supporting anaerobic life. All of this oxygen was toxic to these organisms and wiped out most of the anaerobic inhabitants. Cyanobacteria is, therefore, responsible for one of the most significant extinction events in history. Within 200 million years, life before then was wiped out, transforming the orange skies into blue and laid the foundation for aerobic organisms and life the way it exists today.

Creeping Magnetic Pole Earth’s the North Pole is moving as the ice melts and Earth’s distribution of mass changes. So you can still travel north to go the North pole but will also have to head eastward. Earth rotates on an invisible axis and the places where the axis intersects with the planet’s surface are the north and south poles. Due to the Earth’s wobble, these spots drift around in cycles. Scientists pinpoint the geographic north and south poles by taking long term averages of the rotational positions. Over the past 100 years, the poles have wandered about a few centimeters a year and would shift back and forth. Since 2000, it’s been moving about 10 centimeters a year. If ice disappears from one part of the spinning Earth and resettles elsewhere as water, the planet shifts on its axis toward the place where it lost mass. Scientists are still trying to determine what repercussions this may have regarding climate change and how to apply this to our GPS and satellite systems.

The driest place on Earth…….

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“Expect science to give all the answers to the wonderful questions we have, where are we, where are we going, what the universe means and so on. The thing is we will become disillusion and look for some mystic answer to these problems.

People keep asking me are you looking for the ultimate laws of physics? I say No I am not, I am just looking to find out more about the world…….”

“Clinton Richard Dawkins FRS FRSL (born 26 March 1941) is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford’s Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008.

Dawkins first came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularized the gene-centered view of evolution and introduced the term meme. With his book The Extended Phenotype (1982), he introduced into evolutionary biology the influential concept that the phenotypic effects of a gene are not necessarily limited to an organism’s body, but can stretch far into the environment. In 2006, he founded the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.” Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins

“Richard Phillips Feynman (/ˈfaɪnmən/; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics for which he proposed the parton model. For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman, jointly with Julian Schwinger and Shin’ichirō Tomonaga, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.”Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman

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Edward Witten tells us about string theory, and frames it as an attempt to make sense of all the phenomena we see in nature as one unified theory

“Edward Witten (/ˈwɪtən/; born August 26, 1951) is an American theoretical physicist and professor of mathematical physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.

Witten is a researcher in string theory, quantum gravity, supersymmetric quantum field theories, and other areas of mathematical physics.

In addition to his contributions to physics, Witten’s work has significantly impacted pure mathematics. In 1990 he became the first and so far the only physicist to be awarded a Fields Medal by the International Mathematical Union. In 2004, Time magazine stated that Witten is widely thought to be the world’s smartest living theoretical physicist.” Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Witten

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“Sean Michael Carroll (/ˈkærəl/; born October 5, 1966) is a cosmologist and physics professor specializing in dark energy and general relativity. He is a research professor in the Department of Physics at the California Institute of Technology. He has been a contributor to the physics blog Cosmic Variance and has published in scientific journals and magazines such as Nature, The New York Times, Sky & Telescope, and New Scientist.

He has appeared on the History Channel’s The Universe, Science Channel’s Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, Closer to Truth (broadcast on PBS),[2] and Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. Carroll is the author of Spacetime And Geometry, a graduate-level textbook in general relativity, and has also recorded lectures for The Great Courses on cosmology, the physics of time, and the Higgs boson.[3] He is also the author of three popular books: one on the arrow of time entitled From Eternity to Here, one on the Higgs boson entitled The Particle at the End of the Universe, and one on science and philosophy entitled The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself.” Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_M._Carroll

“We are part of the Universe we can not stand outside of it in any way and the way that science got there is basically through realizing that human beings are not that smart, you are not Vulcans you are not Mr. Spock and you are not perfectly logical.” Sean M. Carroll

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Brian Greene is a great physicist and theorist. In this video, he explains his latest research on the field. Learn more about this interesting man and his interesting arguments.

Brian Randolph Greene[1] (born February 9, 1963) is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996 and chairman of the World Science Festival since co-founding it in 2008. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi–Yau manifolds (concretely, relating the conifold to one of its orbifolds). He also described the flop transition, a mild form of topology change, showing that topology in string theory can change at the conifold point

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How powerful is Music? Our research says: VERY! Humanity has loved music as early as it could keep a beat. It’s the language of emotion. It holds a deep and rooted place in our civilization and sound has an even deeper relationship with our biology, instinct and subconscious. As our knowledge and technologies evolve, so has sound and music.

We can induce energy, fatigue, sadness or happiness and many other human states of being from music. At a social level it’s also fascinating. The sophistication of music as a form of information has many interesting implications; as a religious tool, a form of cultural identity, a symbol of status, an art, a business, a form of marketing, a form of protest, propaganda, generational fandom icons, a form of manipulating our minds in order to generate various “mental states” and even as a weapon!. Some of these musical pioneers go as far as to claim that binaural beats can produce experiences similar to being in high on drugs others I actually use produce states of concentration, that if mixed with instrumental music, have an awesome effect on my own productivity, focus and concentration. Can it really help you focus?Is it a productivity tool? The answer is yes, the right music and sounds help in the right circumstances. But more importantly we are only now realizing the true power of manipulating sound, we are only scratching the surface!

Let’s Focus on Concentration First

According to Julian Treasure, a “Sound Consultant” we cached on Ted, there are 4 ways sound affects us, most of them at a very unconscious level:

Physiologically: We are wired to react to sound, abrupt ones make us jump and our hearts race; slow soothing sounds make us relax, some are just annoying.

Cognitively: Sound is a way of transmitting information and also our brain processes sound to understand information. So, environments where there are many conflicting and chaotic sounds, ( like an open plan office), lead to productivity decrements of 60%, while blocking of the sound with headphones that have soothing and motivating melody push productivity back up to the upper 90%.

Behaviorally: Dance music motivates, uncomfortable sounds push you to move away. For retailers, bad “Soundscapes” can lead to a 28% decrease in sales.

Julian proposes a method of analyzing behavior and music with the following diagram:

He also proposes 4 golden rules when it comes to “Soundscape Design”:

Studies have demonstrated that teenagers are hearing music to get homework done and while cramming for tests, which seems interesting since it can be as distracting and counterproductive as it could be a super concentration tool. The difference is what kind of music you choose: If it’s blocking other external sounds and is simple and has no lyrics, then odds are its going to help. The frequency and type of music heard is key to understand how it affects our tasks. Complex music is supposed to be bad for styding. Source: https://www.ijiet.org/papers/206-K20024.pdf

But to really understand how music affects focus, let’s talkd about those 2 thought-interrupting words: “Pay Attention”

Kahneman´s model of attention says that the amount of attention deployed is a limited resource, like bandwidth or a water pipe, there is only so much audio information that can go into your brain at any one time. In addition, it also states that the amount of attention required for multiple tasks depends directly on the amount of attention required by each single task. Difficult tasks demand more attention than easier ones. Deep focus can is the difference between being able to process something or failing to do so.

Kahneman’s model of divided attention proposes a model of attention which is based around the idea of mental efforts. This is a description of how demanding the processing of a particular input might be.

Some tasks might be relatively automatic (in that they make few demands in terms of mental effort) despite the fact they have a high information load.

Some activities are more demanding (and therefore require more mental effort than others). The total available processing capacities may be increased or decreased by other factors such as arousal.

Several activities can be carried out at the same time, provided that their total effort does not exceed the available capacity

Rules or strategies exist which determine the allocation of resources to various activities and to various stages of processing. Attention capacity will, therefore, reflect the demands made at the perceptual level, the level at which the input is interpreted or committed to memory and the response selection stage.” – Source: https://www.furthereducationlessontrader.co.uk/kahneman%20model%20of%20attention.htm

History says that study of “attention” started in the 1950´s and the theory that has gained more acceptance by researchers is Kahneman´s theory of attention. The model used to explain the effects of background television on cognitive tasks. According to the model, there are two ways that a participant working on a task can interfere. The first one is the capacity of interference; this occurs when the amount of attention is not enough to achieve the demand of the cognitive activities done. The second interference is structural interference, this happens when there are two cognitive activities on the way and both require the same amount of attention to be processed and the participant does not have enough concentration for both of them. The structural interference happens when the capacity exceeds. Link: josotl.indiana.edu/article/download/1733/1731

In Kahneman´s model of attention, music is also a distracting element on activities as reading. A study conducted by this model of attention tried to establish how two types of music; hip-hop and classical music affect a reading task, in simple words, which can be most interfering.

A study on “Reading Comprehension” tested three conditions of sound and concentration: No sound, low information load music and high information load music. The information in music was categorized according to loudness, variety, complexity, and tonal range of music. Results revealed that participants that read under the influence of low information load music had a better performance than the one who read in silence and also did better than the ones who studied under the effect of high information load music. It seems high information load music can produce anxiety and stress that impacts the completion of the task. Low information music can help and improve focus and there for increase the odds of individuals to complete tasks. In teaching and learning processes, music can come in handy to improve the rate of learning and the time it takes to complete it. Classical music is used as background music in educational videos because it is considered low information load music.

Brain Frequency and Sound Frequency

Music is sound, we divide sound based on frequency and we also divide brain activity in to ranges of frequency. Now we know that music affects us, that a specific piece of music with low information load will help us concentrate better, especially if it’s providing a protective “Sound Curtain” that replaces the bad sounds from the environment with soothing simple ones, and that this kind of background study music or noise is better than silence. But did you know that the “frequency of sound” has a special relation with the frequency of the brain? The effort and study of manipulating brain waves with sound waves is what many call binaural beats.

“At the root of all our thoughts, emotions and behaviors is the communication between neurons within our brains. Brainwaves are produced by synchronized electrical pulses from masses of neurons communicating with each other.

Brainwaves are detected using sensors placed on the scalp. They are divided into bandwidths to describe their functions, but are best thought of as a continuous spectrum of consciousness; from slow, loud and functional – to fast, subtle, and complex.

It is a handy analogy to think of Brainwaves as musical notes – the low frequency waves are like a deeply penetrating drum beat, while the higher frequency brainwaves are more like a subtle high pitched flute. Like a symphony, the higher and lower frequencies link and cohere with each other through harmonics. ”

“Delta waves(.5 to 3 Hz) are the slowest brain waves and occur primarily during our deepest state of dreamless sleep. Theta waves (3 to 8 Hz) occur during sleep but have also been observed in the deepest states of Zen meditation.

Alpha waves (8 to 12 Hz) are present when your brain is in an idling default-state typically created when you’re daydreaming or consciously practicing mindfulness or meditation. Alpha waves can also be created by doing aerobic exercise.

Beta waves (12-30 Hz) typically dominate our normal waking states of consciousness and occur when attention is directed towards cognitive and other tasks. Beta is a ‘fast’ wave activity that is present when we are alert, attentive, focused, and engaged in problem solving or decision making. Depression and anxiety have also been linked to beta waves because they can lead to “rut-like” thinking patterns.

Gamma waves(25 to 100 Hz) typically hover around 40 Hz and are the fastest of the brain wave bandwidths. Gamma waves relate to simultaneous processing of information from different brain areas and have been associated with higher states of conscious perception.

“When you concentrate with profound focus on something, the electrical patterns in your brain slow down and relax, and the amplitude of your brain-waves generally stabilizes in the alpha wave range. The concept called “brainwave entrainment” can help you get to that state of mental focus (Super Study Mode).

Brainwave entrainment is any method that causes your brainwave frequencies to fall into step with a specific frequency. It’s based on the concept that the human brain has a tendency to change its dominant EEG frequency towards the frequency of a dominant external stimulus (such as music, or sound).”

What the future brings: The cherry on the top, very cool, but very scary new sound technology.

We will leave you with this amazing advanced on technology that helps put sound anywhere you want, and mute it at hairline borders on the space around it. This new Hypersonic Sound is to Sound, like what the laser is in regards to light.

Woody Norris shows off two of his inventions that use sound in new ways, including the Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD. He talks about his untraditional approach to inventing and education, because, as he puts it: “Almost nothing has been invented yet.”

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